JRochelle Designs: Self-Appointed Baby Stylist

The other day I was downtown with several hours free between appointments, so I did what any fashion blogger would do...I went shopping. I walked in to the baby section of the Gap Outlet downtown where I saw the most amazing things. Baby leggings of all colors and patterns.

I love leggings, I probably have close to 20 pairs of leggings, 15 of them being black, so baby leggings, are a must. I ended up with dark wash jean style leggings, black leggings and gray leggings and then I spied this lightweight denim shirt, and after digging around found the right size. At the checkout I saw a sweet little long sleeved pajama set, so that was added to the pile.

I kept moseying along downtown trying to kill time. H&M is having a $4 sale, so of course I head in to check it out, but once inside I just made a beeline for the baby department. Almost an hour later I emerged with striped leggings with tiny bows at the ankle, a leopard print lightweight sleeveless tunic, a gray swing tunic with pockets and an image of Mickey and Minnie Mouse sitting back to back, a horse print t-shirt for both me and the baby (I swear the shirts are different colors and with different horses) and high top faux leather sneakers. Apparently someone spilled juice on them and left a stain, so I asked for and received a 10% discount because of the stain. After running the sneakers under water the stain is gone. Score one for Savvy Shopper.

What constitutes a good baby fall/winter wardrobe? Same thing that adults need, basic pieces, statement pieces, shoes and accessories. Although most clothing this size has tons of strategically placed snaps and buttons, it is important to remember that diaper changes happen frequently, spills and leaks of all sorts happen unexpectedly and too many embellishments can be a choking hazard since everything is food at that age.

The other tricky thing about babies is that they grow and fast, so the first thing I had to do is figure out what sizes to purchase. The environmental seasons of autumn and winter corresponds to about mid September through March here on the East Coast. The baby will be 10months in September and 16 months at the beginning of April. When buying for children it is usually better to buy bigger than smaller, so the size that I focused on is 12-18months. I started off trying to make a list, but then decided that Pinterest was the best way to go. Don't judge me when you check it out, I know I went overboard, but I only have one niece....

Although I love most of the pieces, my two favorite are the cargo vest and the twill pants.

Twill Cargo Zip Vest from Old Navy


Twill Pant by Egg by Susan Lazar

These are definitely statement pieces. They have a voice, the vest says "I may seem relaxed, but I'm really feisty and tough, so you'd better not mess with me". The pants say, "I'm sophisticated. I have pleats and zippers, and your khakis are just boring." The tapered leg accentuates the smallness of the baby's leg, which can easily be lost since many pants for this age group are designed to accommodate a diaper.

I can see her rocking this vest with these: